All hands on deck for re-oaking wine country expert says.

One way locals seeking to make a difference in the North Bay Fire recovery effort is by hunting up acorns, according to the Napa Valley Chapter of the California Native Plant Society.

The group has put out a call for people to find and gather acorns to help replenish the many native oak trees lost in the blazes.

“This is an all-hands-on-deck sort of an effort at this point,” California Native Plant Society Executive Director Dan Gluesenkamp said. “When the fires went through wine country, we knew a lot of vegetation was damaged and a lot of oaks were taken out. Also, we got a lot of questions from landowners and others who wanted to know what they could do to help nature recover.”

This is one way, he said.

There’s a limited window of time during which to gather acorns before they’re no longer viable and how long that period is depends on the weather, Gluesenkamp said.

“A few hot days, and they’ll crack open and dry up,” he said. “This weekend is good. There’s maybe a couple weeks, at max.”

The good news is that there’s been a bumper crop of acorns this year, organization officials said.

“Perhaps it’s an omen, but this is an incredible mast year and oaks are producing a historic crop of acorns,” a recent group newsletter says. “They can be the basis of robust recovery but the window to act is closing fast. The acorns have fallen and we have just days to gather them before they dry and die.”

While the society seeks to replant acorns from oaks specific to each local region, there is a need to “re-oak” throughout California, Gluesenkamp said.

“Our preference is to get them from the fire vicinity. But, oaks all over California need help, too,” he said. “Oaks are incredibly foundational to California. They were once the main food source for Native Americans.”

Society lost track of that over the years, and the number of oaks began to dwindle. Recently, scientists realized how important the trees are for the region and have begun an effort to “re-oak” the state, Gluesenkamp said.

“Folks are re-oaking all over the state,” he said. “In this case, we’re re-oaking wine country. Each part of California has oaks of slightly different varieties. Local is important.”

Wherever you gather your acorns, they can be sent to the organization to be distributed for planting in the right area, he said.

Your acorns will be processed by organization volunteers in Sacramento and shipped to volunteers in Sonoma who will finish processing, including treating them to kill Phytophthora spores or other diseases. Some acorns will be shared with parks and partner organizations that need to direct plant this season. Most of the acorns will be planted in the nurseries run by organization volunteers, officials said.

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While the seedlings grow, volunteers will work with parks, nonprofits, and other partners to determine specific planting sites, schedule planting days, and engage the community, they said.

Next winter, when the rains come, volunteers will gather to plant the oak seedlings in natural settings and carefully chosen gardens and landscaping sites, they said.

“The response has been so incredible that it crashed our website that first weekend,” Gluesenkamp said. “People seem to get it. We’re kinda psyched.”

To find out exactly what kind of acorns to look for, where to find them, and what to do with them once you collect them, go to cnps.org/acorns, and type in your address, he said.

For more information, visit, ReOakWineCountry page at http://www.cnps.org/acorns/.form, and receive immediate instructions on how to gather acorns appropriately, and where to send your harvest.

About the Author

With the Times-Herald since 1999, Rachel Raskin-Zrihen has been a reporter, writer and columnist for several print and online publications for nearly 30 years. She is the married mother of two grown sons and lives locally. Reach the author at rzrihen@timesheraldonline.com
or follow Rachel on Twitter: @rachelvth.